Child Health Partnership reported to Charlottesville City Council on Sept. 15, 2025, that the home‑visiting nonprofit served 225 families in the last year, produced measurable improvements in family stability and child health measures, and is facing growing needs amid constrained state funding.
John Nafsiger, executive director of Child Health Partnership, told the council the program pairs registered nurses and family‑support specialists who visit families at home to promote child and family health, parenting skills and family self‑sufficiency. The program marks its 35th year and uses evidence‑informed practices, Nafsiger said.
He said children have roughly 2,000 days between birth and kindergarten and that the program seeks to use that period to alter developmental trajectories. Nafsiger said that among families enrolled in the last year, 65 percent reported food insecurity on intake and 30 percent had moved at least twice in the prior year. After a year in the program, the share of families who had moved twice or more fell from 30 percent to 12 percent; families needing medical care but not getting it fell to 3 percent after program enrollment, and dental access also improved.
Nafsiger discussed staffing continuity, private fundraising gains this year and the organization’s fiscal mix. He said the program is now slightly more than 20 percent state funded, with the remainder from local government and private sources; he added that state support has not increased since 2017, which he described as an effective funding erosion of roughly 32 percent when adjusted for inflation.
On referrals and demand, Nafsiger said referrals and enrollments have increased since the pandemic and that the organization continues to work with immigrant and refugee families facing economic and policy stressors. He said the organization’s principal federal grant from the Virginia Department of Health was not currently reported by staff as endangered, but that broader budget pressure—changes to SNAP, Medicaid and other programs—could affect families and partner organizations.
Councilors discussed legislative coordination and asked whether the organization has specific budget requests for the council’s legislative agenda; Nafsiger said the group has been seeking increased state funding to support expansion and an evidence‑based evaluation to access federal funding streams, and welcomed help shaping an official request for council consideration.
Councilors thanked the organization for its work and noted the program’s role in preparing children for school and addressing social determinants of health.